Archi- Saunders, that the voice travels forward far more easily tectural than it does sideways, and consequently those on the right Acoustics, and left of the speaker do not hear like those in front. It is thus at Paris, at the old theatre the Lyrique,' which was half an ellipse, on the major axis of which was the proscenium. When, however, circumstances compel the adoption of these forms, the ceiling should be domed if possible, or, at least, have a very deep cove, and if lighted from above the lantern, should be glazed beneath with horizontal sashes or glass, curved so as to follow the general line of the ceiling, or an echo, or at least reverberation, is inevitable. Some have recommended the speaker to be placed in a sort of niche; this would assist the hearing of those in front of him, who are already in the best place for that purpose, but would take away both sight and hearing, to some considerable degree, from those to the right and left. Horse-shoe form. Effect of crowds. As regards the fourth of these forms, that of our modern theatres, it is so seldom that a piece of ground can be got in cities of the proportions the architect requires, that, practically, it is little use to go at length into the question of exact plan. If, however, the sides of the horse-shoe be drawn in too much near the stage, and the house be so long that the plan resembles an ellipse, with one end cut off, the place of the speaker will be, as it were, in one focus of the ellipse, and the probability is he will be heard well in the other, or two-thirds up the pit; but there will be reveberation or indistinctness everywhere else. The ceiling should be curved, but not too much so. If it takes too much the form of a dome, the voice is lost upwards, as has before been described. The curve also should so finish over the proscenium as to catch the sounds and convey them forward. For this purpose also it is desirable that the stage itself should advance well into the house, that the speaker or singer may be more among the audience, as it were, and more under the curve intended to conduct the voice. It has been already explained that the presence of a crowd of people deadens or absorbs sounds to a very great degree. In churches where there are wide aisles, no galleries, and large unbroken masses of air, this is frequently an advantage; but in theatres and concert-rooms, where people are pushed closer together, it acts so disadvantageously as to necessitate some artificial mode of increasing Acoustics. their sonorousness. This can be done, first, by the use of Archisonorous materials, and next, by disposing of them to the tectural best effect. If a watch be held in the hand, or placed on a soft cushion, its ticking is scarcely perceived. If laid on a table, the sound is plainly heard; and if on the sounding- Sonorous board of a pianoforte, or upon the back of a violoncello, the materials. sound is increased to a remarkable degree. Thus it is desirable that everything possible should be made of elastic material, like wood, and that walls and ceilings should be lined with thin boarding rather than plastered; the latter material absorbing sound to a great degree. Where there is too much reverberation, it has already been explained, it is well to break up all flat surfaces; but in theatres and other similar buildings this should be avoided. It is said the difference between plain, thin panelled box fronts and those ornamented with heavy composition ornaments is much greater than would ordinarily be believed. terials. If these materials can be disposed so as to form hollow Disposispaces or chambers, particularly beneath the room, it is tion of ma also of great advantage. If a pianoforte be placed on a carpet, its sound is neither so great nor so distinct as if it stands on the bare floor, and both these qualities are much augmented if it is placed on a sort of large hollow box. For this reason, if it be not possible to build the entire room with a hollow chamber under it, at any rate, the stage or orchestra should be so treated, and all the framing supports and boarding should be of wood. Disposition of Seats. in Although the arrangement of seats does not increase the Seats, sonorousness of a room, much of the comfort of the auditor and his ability to hear, depends on this. As sound, like light, always travels in a straight line, it is clear where there is an obstruction to sight there must also be to hearing. Where the seats are on a level floor, like those of a church, the preacher must be elevated to be heard, or the heads Churches, of the people in the front seats will block up the transmission both of sight and sound to those behind. The diagram (fig. 3) will shew the difference of hearing between the pulpit and reading-desk. But inasmuch as the hearer is assisted by his previous knowledge of the service as well as HALA Fig. 3. by his prayer-book, it is usual to keep the latter lower than the other. The higher, however, the pulpit is raised, the more the voice ascends, and is lost in the roof. There are many reasons why the seats in churches must be kept on the same level, and there is but one remedy, to place the preacher higher or lower according to the length of the church, which is generally best determined by actual inspection; but in lecture, concert-rooms, and theatres, In concertthe case is different. Here the appearance of the room rooms, &c. is improved, and the purposes of the speaker or artist better effected by raising the seats. The question is, How is this best to be done? The old way was to draw a straight line showing the proposed incline or hanging level from back to front, and to subdivide that equally into breaks or 1 This now pulled down for the public improvements, and rebuilt in the horse-shoe plan. sets up a point, 2 ft. 9 in. in height, to represent the top of the head of the foremost auditor. He then draws a line from the head of the speaker over the last found point, and continues it to the perpendicular of the back of the bench No. 2, where he sets up a height of 1 ft. 6 in., which he calls face height, or clear view over the head of the auditor seated on bench No. 1. This line is continued to the plumb of the back of bench No. 3, where 1 ft. 6 in. again is set up, and the operation continued as long as is necessary. From their respective points thus found he sets down, first, 2 ft. 9 in. for the top of the seats of the bench, and, again, 1 ft. 6 in. for the line of the floor. A line joining any set of these points will describe an isacoustic curve. This forms an excellent arrangement for a small room or 22.6. 1.6. 12.6. may easily be carried out for larger rooms by taking a less face height. From the chin to the level of the eye is scarcely 8 inches. If this be taken as face heights, and a similar diagram set up (fig. 6), it will be seen that the seventh bench will be nearly 5 feet less in height than by the former system. We have now treated of those points which principally concern the architect; the general principles of acoustics; the causes of defects in existing buildings, and their remedies; suggestions as to buildings about to be erected, and the best way of disposing the seats for the auditory. It only remains to give a short list of the best works of reference for those who desire to go more deeply into the subject. Contributions to Standard Works, Periodicals, &c. Sir John Leslie.-Articles in the "Encyclopædia Britannica." Sir John Herschel.-The like in the "Encyclopædia Metropolitana." Savart.-Papers in the "Journal des Académies," Paris, 1839-1840. Wheatstone-Various Papers in the "Quarterly Journal Pouillet.-"Cours. de Physique." Paris, 1856. Inman.-Abstract of Evidence before Parliament, 1835. T. Roger Smith.-Treatise on the Acoustics of Public Buildings. Weale's Rudimentaries. London, 1861which last treatise is probably the best yet produced on the subject, and contains an epitome of most of the fore going works, GLOSSARY OF NAMES AND TERMS USED IN CLASSIC AND MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE. Glossary. ABACISCUS (diminutive of Abacus, q. v.) This term is applied to the chequers or squares of a tessellated pave ment. ABACUS, from the Gr. áßag, a tray, or flat board, It. abaco, Fr. tailloir, the upper part of the capital of a column, pier, &c. The early form of an abacus is simply a square flat stone, probably derived from the Tuscan order. In Saxon work it is frequently simply chamfered, but in the crypt at Repton, it has also two horizontal grooves (Plate XXVI. fig. 1); and in the arcade of the refectory at Westminster, which is known to be the work of Edward the Confessor, there is a deep notched groove between the square and the chamfer (Plate XXIII. fig. 1.) The abacus in Norman work is square where the columns are small; but on larger piers it is sometimes octagonal, as at Waltham Abbey. (Plate XVIII. fig. 4.) Sometimes the square is notched at the corners so as to make it somewhat like a cross, as at Ely (Plate XVIII. fig. 3), and sometimes round, as at Gloucester. The square of the abacus is often sculptured, as at the White Tower (Plate XXVI. fig. 6), and at Alton (ib. fig. 7), and Sutton (ib. fig. 9). In early English work the abacus is generally circular, as at Stone (Plate XXVII. fig. 3), and in larger work, a continuation of circles, as at Salisbury (ib. fig. 1), sometimes octagonal, as at Warmington (Plate XXVIÍ. fig. 4), and occasionally square. The mouldings are generally rounds, which overhang deep hollows, as at Salisbury (ib. fig. 1; see also Capital). The abacus in early French work is generally square, as at Blois. (Plate XXVI. fig. 14.) They are also generally quite flat at the top, while in English work (except in Norman), all capitals, with scarce an exception, are more or less chamfered at the top. The Decorated abacus is much like the early English, but the hollows and rounds are not so bold. The upper moulding is frequently the overlapping roll moulding which resembles a scroll. (See Capital, Plate XXVII. fig. 12.) In the Perpendicular period, they seem to have gone back to the octagonal form in the majority of instances, particularly on the continent, for the various mouldings of all these styles. (See Capital, Glossary. Plate XXVII.) ABATED, a term for such work in medieval masonry as is worked down or sunk. ABBEY (Fr. abbaye, It. abbadia, or contractedly, badia, Ger. abtei, kloster), a term for the church and other buildings used by those conventual bodies presided over by an Abbot or Abbess, in contradistinction to cathedral, which is presided over by a Bishop, and a priory, the head of which was a Prior or Prioress. The word is supposed to be derived from the Hebrew Abba, Father, by which name the Abbot was formerly generally designated. The buildings in all these instances are much the same, and generally consisted of a church, with vestries, sacristies, &c., either within the same or detached, but close to the church; a cloister with its usual alleys, and a cemetery, either in the centre of or attached to the same, a passage from these close to the church called a slype, the chapter-house, generally with a vestibule; a refectory with kitchens, and various stores, brew-houses and bakehouses; a hospitium or guestern hall; locutory or parlour, a library, a scriptorium or writing-room, a treasury; these were generally all on the ground-floor, and over them or part of them, the dormitories, infirmaries, &c. Some large abbeys had prisons, and even a mint, and some separate buildings, as an almonry, sanctuary, &c., and most were inclosed by a wall for defence, with gatehouses, &c. In larger establishments, as at Glastonbury, the Abbot and Prior had separate houses, with large halls, and every appliance necessary for a feudal lord; and all mitred Abbeys, or those presided over by an Abbot who had a seat among the Lords as a spiritual peer, had a house in London generally called the Abbot's Inn, where he resided during the sitting of Parliament. They had also cells or smaller houses in the country for change of air, and granges or farm-houses, all of which see under their respective heads. ACROTERIUM (Gr. aкpornplov, the summit or vertex), a statue or ornament of any kind placed on the apex of a pedi M Glossary. ment. The term is often incorrectly restricted to the plinth, which forms the podium merely for the acroterium. The statue of the saint on the apex of the pediment of the western front of St Paul's is an acroterium; the other statues may be called acroterial figures. AISLE, Sometimes written Isle, Yle and Alley (Lat. and Ital. ala, Fr. aile, bas-coté, Ger. seitenschiff, seitenchor.) In its primary sense the wing of a house, but generally used to describe the alleys or passages at the sides of the naves and choirs of churches. When reckoning their number, the nave is usually counted. Thus a nave with an aisle on each side, is generally called a three-aisled church. If with two aisles on each side, a five-aisled church. In England there are many churches with one side aisle only; but there is only one cathedral with five aisles, that at Chichester. There are, however, very many such in the continent, the most celebrated of which are at Milan and Amiens. Others have three aisles of a side, or seven aisles in all, as the cathedrals at Antwerp and Paris. The most extraordinary, however, is that at Cordova, originally erected for a mosque. It was first built with a nave and five aisles on each side, eight others afterwards were added, making nineteen aisles in all. Old English writers frequently call the transepts, "the cross isle, or yle," and the nave the "middle ile." ALIEN HOUSES, religious houses in England belonging to, or under the control of, foreign ecclesiastics. They generally were built where property had been left by the donors to foreign orders to pray for their souls. They were frequently regular priories, and sometimes only cells, and even granges, with small chapels attached. Some, particularly in cities, seem to have been a sort of mission houses. There were more than 100 in England. Many alien houses were suppressed by Henry the Fifth, and the rest by Henry the Eighth. ALLEY, also called Ambulatory (Lat. deambulatorium), the covered passages round a cloister. (See also ALURE.) ALMERY, also Aumery, Aumbrie, and Ambry (Fr. armoire; Ital. almario), a recess in a wall of a church, sometimes square headed, and sometimes arched over, and closed with a door like a cupboard, and used to contain the chalices, basins, cruets, &c., for the use of the priest; many of them have stone shelves. They are sometimes near the piscina, but more often on the opposite side. The word also seems in mediæval times to be used commonly for any closed cupboard, and even book-case. In fact the word armoire is in use abroad, to signify such objects to the present day. ALMONRY (Lat. eleemosinarium, Fr. aumonerie, Ger. almosenhaus), the place or chamber where alms were distributed to the poor in churches, or other ecclesiastical buildings. At Bishopstone Church, County Wilts, it is a sort of covered porch attached to the south transept, but not communicating with the interior of the church. At Worcester Cathedral the alms are said to have been distributed on stone tables, on each side, within the great porch. In large monastic establishments, as at Westminster, it seems to have been a separate building of some importance, either joining or near the gatehouse, that the establishment might be disturbed as little as possible. ALMSHOUSES, small buildings for the residence of the aged poor, generally endowed with some yearly stipend. The greater portion were built after the Reformation. Two early examples may be cited in England, as affording a study for the architect; that at St Cross, near Winchester, and that near the Preaching Cross of the Black Friars at Hereford. ALTAR, anciently written Auter, or Awter (Lat. and Ital. altare, Fr. autel), the elevated table devoted to the celebration of the Eucharist. It is foreign to the pur- Glossary. pose of this work to treat of the history of the word altar, and the controversies thereon. It is sufficient to say, in an architectural sense, that altars appear originally to have been plain wooden tables; then to have been of stone, probably because the martyrs were interred in or under them; some at Rome are actually ancient sarcophagi. In mediæval times, it is supposed all were of stone; some were plain slabs, supported by legs or brackets of the same material, jutting out of the wall, and are generally marked with five small crosses, one at each corner, and one in the middle. Viollet-le-Duc gives an example (autel) where the slab has only one leg. ALURE (Lat. alura—allorium, probably from alatorium), AMBRY. (See ALMERY.) ANGLO-SAXON ARCHITECTURE. (See SAXON.) ANNULET (Lat. annulus, a ring). This term is applied to ANTE (probably from the Gr. avrios, or some other deriva- ANTEFIXE (Lat. ante, before, and fixus, fixed), upright |